WellnessLiving vs Mindbody: What is the Best Booking Platform in 2026?

You may think that picking the best booking platform for your studio business is as simple as searching and signing up. But once you start looking at the options, you’ll quickly find there are more than a few (with hundreds of features you never knew existed!)

WellnessLiving and Mindbody are two of the top booking systems on the market for booking classes. WellnessLiving claims to offer the same Mindbody tools at a friendlier price. Mindbody promises the scale and ecosystem to grow beyond a single studio.

But “affordable” pricing can climb quickly once you need advanced features, a branded mobile app, or custom marketing workflows.

The reality is that most platforms weren’t originally designed for the way group activity businesses like fitness studios, pilates studios or dance studios work day in and day out. They were built for appointment-based wellness businesses – salons, spas, and personal trainers – and have expanded outward from there.

So, what’s the solution? Which is better – and is there an alternative that fits your operations better?

Let’s compare WellnessLiving vs Mindbody to help you understand where each platform genuinely excels, where it falls short, and why Pembee may fill the gap between both platforms’ limitations for group activity businesses.

Tired of paying hundreds for tools designed around one-on-one appointments, then spending hours configuring them for classes and courses? Pembee delivers purpose-built class booking and course management from $45/month – with flat pricing, no annual contracts, and no add-on surprises. Try Pembee free for 30 days!

WellnessLiving vs Mindbody: At A Glance

Before we look at each platform, here’s a high-level comparison of the factors that matter most to studio and activity business owners:

As you can see, the WellnessLiving vs Mindbody choice typically comes down to a trade-off between ecosystem depth and total cost.

While WellnessLiving bundles more features into its base plans, Mindbody has a much larger integration library and consumer marketplace – but at a significantly higher price.

For group activity providers who primarily need intelligent booking, class management, and payment tools, both platforms may offer more complexity and cost than the job requires.

What Is WellnessLiving?

WellnessLiving originally launched as a direct challenger to Mindbody’s dominance in the wellness software market.

The platform offers an all-in-one business management solution, with features covering scheduling, payments, marketing campaigns, client communication and client management.

Think of WellnessLiving as the “value alternative” in the wellness software space. It bundles the essential features into its core plans rather than gating them behind expensive upgrades, a positioning that has made it popular with cost-conscious studio owners.

WellnessLiving currently holds a 4.4/5 rating on Capterra, with users consistently praising the onboarding experience and feature-to-price ratio.

WellnessLiving Key Features and Capabilities

• Class and appointment scheduling: Robust scheduling for classes, appointments, events, and workshops with online booking via widgets and branded portal (appointment-first design; class management is strong but not its original focus)
• Client and membership management: Client profiles, packages, passes, memberships, and parent–child account linking on all plans – a useful differentiator for family-oriented businesses
• Marketing automation: Email, SMS, and push notifications included on lower tiers; lead generation tools and drip campaigns on higher plans (Business and above)
• Payment processing and POS: Integrated payments with emphasis on lower transaction fees than Mindbody; retail POS for merchandise and services
• Reporting and analytics: Around 50 reports on the Starter plan; advanced reporting and graphical analytics on higher tiers

Where WellnessLiving Shines

More Features Bundled Into Lower-Tier Plans

The features are WellnessLiving’s core value proposition. Users find that Mindbody gates key features such as marketing tools, custom branded apps, and engagement features behind expensive monthly plans.

WellnessLiving includes email and SMS notifications, a client app, a staff app, and a business directory listing in its Starter plan. For studios watching their budget, this bundling can represent meaningful savings.

Competitive Payment Processing Fees

WellnessLiving offers lower credit card processing fees than Mindbody, with some comparisons showing savings of 15–40% on transaction costs. For studios processing high monthly volumes, this can add up to hundreds of dollars in monthly savings.

Approachable Setup and Usability

One of the key benefits of Wellness Living is the easy setup and use. Online reviews frequently describe WellnessLiving as easier to use than Mindbody, especially for studio owners without a dedicated admin or IT support. They also have a community forum with helpful tips.

Where WellnessLiving Falls Short

Pricing Escalates Quickly at Higher Tiers

Pricing can start at an attractive rate, for example, the Starter plan starts at around $69/month, but has limited staff access and basic functionality.

Most growing studios will need to quickly upgrade to the Business plan at around $199/month to take advantage of unlimited staff, event scheduling, and email marketing. If you want a branded app, you’ll have to upgrade to the BusinessPro plan at around $349/month, putting it in Mindbody’s pricing tier quickly.

Integration Ecosystem Is More Limited

Compared to Mindbody’s library of 90+ integrations and public API access, WellnessLiving’s integration ecosystem is notably smaller. It supports the most common integrations – Mailchimp and Constant Contact, for instance – but studios that rely on specialized accounting tools or fitness equipment integrations may run into limitations quickly.

Limited Group Activity Depth for Non-Fitness Use Cases

At its core, WellnessLiving is built for fitness and wellness businesses. It’s best suited for yoga studios, Pilates, gyms, spas, and salons. If you’re running afterschool programs, or other programs such as camps or performing arts academies, you may find the feature set oriented toward a different use case, and you may need to shift how you work to use WellnessLiving effectively.

What Users Say About WellnessLiving

“This software is very customizable and if you ever need help you can reach a real person who will find you a solution. Great customer service and easy to navigate!… When our staff uses the Elevate staff app sometimes changes are a little slow to show up on the schedule.” Source: Capterra / GetApp – WellnessLiving Reviews

“Ease of use for both me and my clients. Customer service and support is excellent! Friendly platforms for app and through website. Billing ACH withdrawal do not happen on the same day… and clients cannot select an option to pro‑rate their dates….” Source: GetApp – Reviews of WellnessLiving

“Overall positive experience. I value how this system is able to have multiple users, and users with different modalities (pilates, osteotherapy, etc.). When one therapist needs SOAP notes they can access this option.” - Capterra / GetApp – WellnessLiving Reviews

What Is Mindbody?

Founded in 2001, Mindbody is one of the biggest names in wellness business software. It offers enterprise-level management tools around scheduling, payments, client management, staff coordination, marketing, studio business operations and reporting.

You can think of Mindbody as the corporate enterprise system of the wellness world. The suite comes with the ability to customize it at a deeper level than WellnessLiving, and the huge integration and marketplace capabilities offer tons to play with. But that depth comes with complexity that can feel overwhelming for businesses that don’t need (or can’t afford) everything it offers.

Mindbody has built these capabilities by acquiring several companies over the years, including Booker, ClassPass, and FitMetrix. The platform currently holds a 4.0/5 rating on Capterra.

Mindbody Key Features and Capabilities

• Class and appointment scheduling: Highly customizable scheduling with waitlists, room and resource management, and recurring services (powerful but complex; multi-week courses require manual session-by-session entry)
• Consumer marketplace: The Mindbody marketplace discovery app connects businesses with millions of active users searching for local fitness and wellness services, a significant acquisition channel for studios in competitive urban markets
• Staff management and payroll: Time tracking, role-based permissions, and payroll tools included; payroll integration locked to higher-tier plans
• Integration ecosystem: 90+ connections to accounting, marketing, fitness, and CRM platforms, plus public API access for custom development

Where Mindbody Shines

Enterprise-Scale Infrastructure

Mindbody has built up its system over two decades of market presence. Multi-location franchises managing 10+ studios and those coordinating staff across sites will find that the Mindbody infrastructure grows with them without requiring platform switches.

Extensive Integration Ecosystem and API

Mindbody’s library of 90+ integrations and public API access is a real competitive advantage compared to many other options. If you manage studios that need custom workflows or in-house development, API access provides flexibility that most competitors (but may be a bit beyond your needs)

Consumer Marketplace Reach

The Mindbody consumer app gives studios visibility to a large active user base, which is an added benefit many may not expect when they are looking for an operational system. It allows for dynamic pricing tools that can automatically fill empty class spots during off-peak times.

Where Mindbody Falls Short

Premium Pricing That Adds Up Fast

Mindbody’s Starter plan begins at around $129/month but lacks features most studios consider essential. Most businesses find they need either the Accelerate plan (around $289/month) or the Ultimate plan (around $469/month) to access the full marketing suite. Add processing fees and any add-ons, and the total monthly investment can climb well beyond the list price.

Steep Learning Curve and Complex Interface

Despite recent UI modernization efforts, Mindbody’s interface still feels dense for new users. Power users appreciate the depth and configurability, but small-studio owners without dedicated admin support may find the system overwhelming.

Limited Flexibility for Group Activity Providers

This is a critical limitation for class-based businesses. Creating a multi-week course, an 8-week yoga series, a seasonal dance program, means manually entering each individual session. That’s potentially 30 minutes of repetitive data entry for a single offering!

What Users Say About Mindbody

“What I appreciated most about the system was its user‑friendly interface, which made it easy for me to quickly look up class schedules, book customers into classes, and process payments with minimal delays.” Source: Capterra – Mindbody Pricing, Alternatives & More 2025

“Outdated user interface, so many bugs, takes weeks for support to understand any issues you report, if you call support you sit on hold for over an hour….” Source: Capterra – Mindbody Pricing, Alternatives & More 2025

“Generally excellent… It has a wide‑ranging and diverse functional capability. It is also excellent at running memberships… [but] it became expensive and stopped supporting our card payment provider.” Source: Capterra UK Customer Review– Mindbody

Pembee: The Top WellnessLiving and Mindbody Alternative

The reality is that WellnessLiving and Mindbody were designed for appointment-based wellness businesses and expanded to include class scheduling as a way to grow their consumer base.

But if you need just the features that your group activities organization requires, then you don’t want to pay extra for tools you’ll never use.

Pembee was built from the ground up specifically for organizations that run group activities: classes, courses, workshops, camps, and afterschool programs.

Instead of forcing your operations into software designed for salons and spas, Pembee gives you the features activity providers actually need, at a price that doesn’t require enterprise budgets.

Simplified (and Innovative) Class and Course Management

Pembee’s class booking system was built around how activity businesses operate. This includes automated class rosters, centralized records, and real-time attendance tracking that eliminates manual record-keeping. Multiple ticket types – single sessions, full course tickets, trial passes, and flexible packages – give families options without confusion.

Simple and Transparent Payment Processing

Pembee processes payments through integrated Stripe with a transparent 0.59% platform fee on top of Stripe's process fees, a rate that is quite a bit lower than both WellnessLiving and Mindbody.

Pembee’s subscription payments for ongoing classes, session passes across multiple activity types, sibling discounts, and multi-session booking discounts are all built in. See full pricing details for a clear breakdown.

Smart Tools Without the Feature Bloat

Pembee bundles all the data you need in a single dashboard, easy to review when you need it, and not overloaded with unnecessary and confusing information.

Quickly review performance analytics and make use of automated cart recovery emails that recapture abandoned registrations. Plus, you can send automatic email confirmations that provide all essential details the moment someone registers.

You won’t find retail POS, payroll modules, or salon appointment types you’ll never use. What you will find is every tool a group activity business needs, and nothing it doesn’t.

Looking For A WellnessLiving or Mindbody Alternative? Pembee Is Your Activity Business Management Solution

Every day spent wrestling with complex or overpriced booking software is a day you could be growing your business instead.

If you’re running classes, courses, camps, or workshops, you don’t need enterprise salon software or appointment-based systems – you need a platform designed for how you actually work.

Pembee’s Standard plan is $45/month for up to 5 admin users and unlimited locations. The Premium plan is $105/month with waitlist management, marketing tools, and unlimited admins. No contracts, just rolling monthly billing with a 30-day free trial that doesn’t require a credit card.

Try Pembee’s 30-day free trial today and see why activity providers are switching from both WellnessLiving and Mindbody to a platform built specifically for group activity management.

No credit card required, no annual contracts, no obligation. Our team is here to help you build a better activity business, and Pembee makes it easy to get started.

Try Pembee Now